Integrated Self-powered MEMS-Insect Swarms for biochemical detection

In this program, Agiltron proposes the development of self-powered bio-mechanical swarms for detection and communication of biochemical agents for both civil and defense applications. We propose to integrate a micro electro-mechanical suite of sensors, actuators, power harvesters and electronics by surgical insertion during early metamorphosis of insects to allow rugged and reliable biomechanical interfaces, vital to high survival rates of resulting platforms. The novelty in the proposed approach is the use of low-power high sensitivity micromechanical chemical sensors with buried differential piezoresistive readout for integrated readout, high efficiency electromagnetic vibration scavengers for optical power scavenging, and biomimetic, high-efficiency electromagnetic actuators for direct muscle actuation to modulate output characteristics of insects. Use of electromagnetic actuation principles allow for extremely flexible design for optimal design of the actuator and power scavenger, enabling optimal bioMEMS platforms.